The Googly

Langer: 100 and out (for the count)

Justin Langer walked out to bat today, after Australia bowled South Africa out for 303, and would have felt an immense surge of pride fill his head. He's passionately patriotic, so the milestone of 100 Tests - almost all of which he has opened in - is a fine moment. Moments later, he wobbled to the ground and sat there in a daze after Makhaya Ntini crashed a bouncer into his helmet. It was a sickening blow.

Now then, I've made mention of my relish for all things gladatorial (in a cricketing sense), which has attracted concern and debate (at the Corridor). It's not that I enjoy seeing people in pain, or injured or upset or whatever - I worked for the NHS for two-and-a-half years! Although frankly, compassion toward patients who call you a b****** is a rare thing). No, that's not the point.

It's the fact that while cricket can be portrayed a slow, leisurely and sedate way to waste five days of your life, in fact it relies on split-second judgements and the concentration of the highest order. This particular incident was a blemish on Langer's part, if he's honest; yes, the ball didn't get ping up quite as much as he expected, but Ntini is a skiddy type of bowler who doesn't extract extreme bounce at the best of time. He took his eye off the ball, and is now in hospital.

"Thank God for helmets," Barry Richards cried when commentating on TV today. Undoubtedly they've prevented some really horrific injuries but, as anyone who followed cricket pre-1970s will tell you, they're the batsman's worst enemy. It was rare for batsmen in previous eras to ever be hit on the head; a helmetless skull is all the more bare and vulnerable, and players would watch the ball like a hawk. If a 90mph delivery hits you flush on the temple, you will probably die. If not, I dread to think of the consequences  -  suffice to say you'd be gobbling Anadin Extra for decades to come.

I'm not, of course, advocating helmets shouldn't be used. And yes, Langer is a lucky man tonight (this isn't the first time he's been hit. He's worn more scars than, erm, someone who gets in a lot of fights, or something), but batsmen are getting hit an awful lot these days and it has little to do with the quality of the bowling.

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

Working at Cricinfo

I get the odd email or message or comment from people on my other blog curious to know "what it's like" working for Cricinfo. I was plucked from the unemployed blogging world to the esteemed halls of Cricinfo last July (or June - I never can remember), which has been a constant learning experience. Which, in itself, is a terrific thing and I'm incredibly fortunate to do what I do for a living. Anyway, this isn't a "look at me and my fancy cricket job" post (although I might post one of those some time soon), just some musings.

Today I did my first Verdict. It's worthy of capitalisation, for it offers a slightly different task than that of writing a bulletin. Maybe you're not even aware we have the two different match reports! But we do, and today was really quite tricky. Aside from usual work matters (trawling for news, replying to emails, cropping and uploading photos and other things) I spent much of the day scribbling notes, eyes fixed on the TV, waiting and constantly planning my opening paragraph. Before long I realised the futility of what I was doing - I had to wait until tea, at least, to really grasp the day's play and see what the story was. And by that stage, rightly or wrongly, I'd chosen Jacques Kallis' turgid (but fine) 24th Test century as the focus for my attention.

In retrospect, the piece I wrote lacked much focus. What I wanted to say was "Kallis and South Africa were unable to force the game and take command, when at one point the game was anyone's for the taking". What I ended up saying was a slightly ramshackled rant at Kallis' dogmatic defence and his lack of being a chancer and a risk taker (even when settled into his innings).

So it's all a learning curve. It was my first effort, so I'm using that as a perfectly valid excuse, although I'm irritated at myself as I know I can do better. Time waits for no man!

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

Comfortingly slow

After the circus show a few weeks ago, it's rather comforting to settle back to Test cricket. And settle is the operative word, for today Australia crawled along in the second Test against South Africa at Durban. It was "yesteryear" Test cricket, as Peter English said in his bulletin, and a curiously fascinating day. Ricky Ponting made a hundred (his 29th; he's level now with Don Bradman), but Australia lost five first-innings wickets.

The one-day carnage is undeniably fun, but Test cricket has so much more depth. I hearby announce I'm an old chancer of 80, and not 24 after all. On that note, it's time to find myself some real ale...

Positive or stupid?

Half an hour ago, Australia needed another 18 runs to win. They lost their third wicket, Ricky Ponting. The South African commentators then got ridiculously excited, almost inferring South Africa had a chance. I mean how stupid are they? I know I had to eat one of the few remaining hats that I own, last Sunday, but this is taking it too far. South Africa: you're about to lose. Now wake up, or else you'll lose the series too.

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

Clark the invisible

What a debut Stuart Clark had for Australia today. With Glenn McGrath absent to care for his wife, whose fight with cancer continues, Brett Lee became the team's spearhead which, after his poor form (eight wickets in his last nine one-dayers), was a bit of a concern for Australia. It's perhaps all the more remarkable that Clark should've outshone everyone on the first day of this series, given that he's such an unremarkable sort of bowler. Indeed, he himself admitted that he thought his Test debut might never come.

He's an invisible sort of cricketer, someone who doesn't look threatening or particularly tricky to face. I remain unconvinced that he will play a significant part in Australia's future but, for the time being, he could be a vital stop-gap. For South Africa, they've returned to earth with an almighty bump. How must they be feeling tonight, I wonder? They did snaffle out Justin Langer in the closing overs but Australia, having taken 10 wickets on the first day of the series, will be over the moon at their performance.

What of Clark, then? Ed Craig's out there for TWC and makes an interesting comment:

But this is the Australian problem. They can't keep giving aged journeymen debuts in perfect conditions, for it can only cloud their long-term judgment. Australia are a team on the verge of transition, a coach's euphemism for being a bit more rubbish than they used to be.

They are wobbling. The side has been so strong for so long that few first-class players have had a chance to experience Test matches. This, in turn, has damaged their back-up plans when proven performers lose form, collect injuries or are absent. Hence the debut for Clark - the safe, first-class proven option - who is inevitably 30-plus, like Hussey and Hodge before him.

One thing that's occurred to me is whether players' careers might become more and more extended; players might in turn make their debuts at a much older age (as has been the case with Brad Hodge and today Clark; and for England, Andrew Strauss in 2004). Interesting point Ed makes. I wonder about Australia's youth - do they have any young bowlers coming through (apart from Mitchell Johnson who Dennis Lillee has described as a "once in a generation" bowler)?

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

Wise, yes. But my knees hurt

The age-old question: do you sacrifice experience and wisdom for youthful exuberance? Or do you stick with your tried and tested players?

Ricky Ponting and his Aussie team-mates have been rattled by the South African's improbable victory on Sunday. And now, questions are being asked about the decisions made by the their selectors. The Aussies have made conservative choices for their three-Test series in South Africa by recalling Michael Kasprowicz and Damien Martyn. It means England's oldest player in their ongoing tour of India - 29-year-old Paul Collingwood - would be the third youngest for Australia! Surely Australia should be investing in youth for the forthcoming World Cup and defence of the Ashes?

Justin Hunt

South Africa v Australia, first Test

South Africa and Australia resume battle at Newlands, Cape Town on Thursday - and what a contest it could be. Ed Craig, deputy Editor of The Wisden Cricketer is out there at the moment and provided us with a preview. While the events of last Sunday won't be forgotten in a hurry, he makes one very important point: Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill were the notable absentees for Australia's one-day defeat. They'll be fired up and ready to roll tomorrow. Ed says:

Then there's the matter of the Cape Town pitch and Warne. There is a problem and the South African camp is less than happy. It is late in the summer for a Cape Town Test (usually they are at New Year) and the pitch has seen a lot of cricket on a small square. Two ODIs, the Pro20, the SuperSport Series - and finally a Test match. This particular strip has already been used two, maybe three, times. It looks worn and that suits Australia as they have ... Warne. The groundsman insists it'll hold up for five days but Warne, who bowled 98 overs here in his last visit, is licking his lips. And the Australians are likely to select Stuart MacGill, who some claim is the second best legspinner in the world, to make life even more awkward.

Given their thrashing late last year in Australia - and especially considering their extraordinary win last Sunday - I wonder whether South Africa might be too pumped up. Will their one-day win inspire them or cripple their momentum? They've exceeded their own expectations, possibly even their fans' too, before the Test series has begun. And, worryingly, a psychologist was called in by the South African management to keep their heads level. A reasonable move, and I don't doubt the logic, but talk about providing Australia with some sledging material...perhaps unwise to release it into the public domain.

Anyway, it ought to be a cracking series. Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, is in an impossibly rich vein of form - has he ever been in such good nick? - and, although he's without Glenn McGrath, Warne is back. I'm particularly excited about seeing Warne and MacGill bowl in tandem; it hasn't happened often, and it's a terrific sight for the fans.

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

One-day cricket: where is it heading?

Gideon Haigh

The sums are as obscene as those of a CEO's salary: 595 deliveries for 872 runs, 504 of them, or 58 per cent, in the form of boundaries, including twenty-six sixes.  As Ed Craig observed on Cricinfo, New Wanderers has a bit of previous, and the absences of Pollock and McGrath disturbed the equilibrium of both sides. But to Australians waking this morning, 434 for 4 sounded more like a football formation than a cricket score, and news ofSouth African victory compounded the incredulity.

Whether the game was genuinely surprising is another matter.  One-day scores have been rising for years, as boundaries come in and bats hit further, and one need not expect the authorities to reverse the trend, for the pressure is on the 50-over game to rival the 20-over game's carnival feel. After all, as John Arlott observed: 'The big hit – for six – is the most companionable of cricketing acts.  Casting the unfortunate bowler in the role of clown, it infallibly puts the crowd in a satisfied, laughing mood.'  Expect more conical hats for bowlers as they hand out more helmets to spectators. The time may not be far off when bowling is simply mechanized, with a sponsored machine called the AutoLewis programmed to spit out six half-volleys an over.

Is this sustainable?  Most of the time when a team posts a huge tally in a fifty-over match, the opposition loses early wickets in a headrush of testosterone and folds up soon after: bigger scores beget bigger margins.

It is middling scores that tend to generate the close finishes which are the game's sine qua non.  Still the best one-day game I have ever seen was between these two countries six and a half years ago at Headingley where the ball was in the ascendant for most of the day, and the fate of the match seemed to hinge on every ball. The effect of the turbo-charging of batting and the malcolmnashisation of bowling, then, may be more one-sided games. If so, the fifty-over game may be about to reverse sweep the ball right into its own goolies.

Gideon Haigh is an Australian-based cricket historian and author. He writes for The Age and Cricinfo.com among others

The poor, belittled bowler

South Africa's remarkable win against Australia on Sunday has caused an understandable stir among the cricket world, media, former players and so on. Barry Richards, the former South Africa batsman, was at the game and commentating on it. Indeed, he even gave a speech at a function during the innings break. When asked "Would South Africa reach 435?" he replied "No! Not a chance!" Richards is one of millions chomping on their hats...including me.

Anyway, Richards made some interesting comments after the run-blitz:

"There is such a propensity for hitting boundaries that bowlers have been taken out of game," Richards is quoted as saying by The Courier-Mail. "It will only be six months and we'll see 1000 runs scored in a one-day game. The skill has been taken out of cricket. As a cricket person, it is very boring because the bowlers have no chance. All the rule changes, the power plays and things, have just made things so much in favour of batsmen.

"The small grounds are like saying to Tiger Woods to play on a 4000m course; he might keep shooting 49 but what does it really mean?" he continued. "Cricket is the only game that has been made smaller in the past 100 years. It's all in the name of commercialism.

"Why would you want to be a bowler? For a start the ball doesn't swing. Batsmen are just hitting the ball straight. The International Cricket Council needs to look at things because this is ruining cricket."

Although I was getting caught up in the moment - it was an amazing day - I can't help but agree with Bazza on this. It's a batsman's game, and the poor bowler has a tough time. Who'd be a bowler (if you had the choice) nowadays? That's a ridiculous and pointless question, so I'll ask another; was this really the greatest one-dayer, or does it indicate cricket's now gluttonous need for commercialism and "whizz bang whallop" entertainment?

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

The greatest game of all

So. South Africa successfully chased down an astonishing 435 to beat Australia, who held the record for a mere few hours. It was an unforgettable day - but was it the greatest game of all? Barry Richards, and perhaps everyone else watching, was absolutely convinced South Africa wouldn't reach 400, let alone the 435 to win the game. Yet they did it. So much for 300 being a good score...

Ed Craig, deputy Editor of The Wisden Cricketer, just happened to be at the game and provided Cricinfo with an excellent colour piece which is worth reading.

I need to absorb what's happened before writing any more. Things like this don't happen every day (the previous highest total stood for 10 years and 6 days), but promise to have some thoughts on it as soon as possible. In the meantime, provide your own!

Limerick competition winners will also be announced tomorrow (hopefully).

Australia break 400 ODI record

What in the name of all that is sane is going on at Johannesburg? Adam Gilchrist started it with one of his violent furies; then Ricky Ponting went utterly beserk, smashing the Boks to kingdom come! This, after Australia levelled the series on Friday. What a game. Australia have rocketed past 400 - the first time any side has done it. Very, very special innings.

(Click here to see Cricinfo’s new spangly scorecard)

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

South Africa on top against Australia

South Africa are all over Australia in the second one-dayer at Cape Town. They lead the series 1-0 and, thanks to another violent knock from Justin Kemp, stormed to 289 for 7. Australia, however, have already lost three wickets (it's 5 for 3!) with Makhaya Ntini grabbing all of them. He's bowling an immaculate length, and is even getting a bit of swing - far too good for the Australians. Live scorecard at Cricinfo.

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

Short boundaries and meaty bats

Gideon Haigh

The announcement of the composition of a one-day team is not usually the
subject of much comment.  Someone always seems to be announcing a one-day team somewhere, carefully arbitrating on the quality of one dibbly-dobbly purveyor over another when a game of rock-paper-scissors might be just as definitive.  When Phil Jaques was overlooked for his New South Wales team-mate Simon Katich in Australia’s one-day team for South Africa, however, it was as though Frank Ward had been preferred to Clarrie Grimmett again.

To recap, Jaques got his chance at Docklands last month when Katich was
ruled out by a groin strain; he slathered 94 off 112 balls against South
Africa before giving up his place again.  Then something interesting
happened.  Paul Reiffel once observed that his reputation grew whenever he wasn’t playing; likewise, the long diminuendo of Jaques’ innings seemed to make him a better player each succeeding day.  Incanting Steve Waugh’s soundbite that Jaques could be ‘the new Gilly’ like an election slogan, journalists turned him into Australia’s new one-day saviour and World Cup
secret weapon.  When he did not make the cut for South Africa, it was Mark Waugh’s turn to provide the soundbite for repetition: ‘I think his performances have been outstanding and I think it's a bit of a lame excuse to say his fielding isn't up to scratch’.  Jaques’ reputation will now be further enhanced by Australia’s defeats in the Twenty20 international and the first one-day match in South Africa; at this rate, expect him to be mentioned as a possible CEO of Cricket Australia if the Proteas win the series.

Katich, meanwhile, a thoughtful cricketer who’s known his own selection
misfortunes, is suffering the burden of incumbency, which he’d probably just prefer, although maybe not by much.  His century against Sri Lanka at the Gabba on 15 February was accompanied by one of the most histrionic
celebrations this side of the Oscars.  Sooner or later, I grant you, a
player scoring a century is going to vault the fence and plant a kiss on
every member of his entourage.  But Katich belied the dourness of his
batting by threatening for a moment to become the Mark Latham of Australian cricket; at his emotional press conference afterwards, one half expected him to say: ‘Say anything you like about me.  Just leave my family out of it.’ Except that he brought his family into it, dedicating the innings to them.

This rivalry, however, is more than a selection controversy du jour.  It is a reflection of the direction of the game’s technology and regulation. Jaques is a beneficiary of the era of high-performance bats and ever shorter boundaries. Katich suffers for the same reasons: his métier of finding space
through the field is passing out of fashion because it has become so easy to hit fours and sixes.  The tide of Twenty20, a game set to be populated by clones of Andrew Symonds in which the bowling is reduced to a static mechanism, is set to expedite the trend.  If Jaques is not at the World Cup
next year, he will only have himself to blame; if Katich is not, he probably shouldn’t blame himself too much.

Gideon Haigh is an Australian-based cricket historian and author. He writes for The Age and Cricinfo.com among others